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The Trump Administration Has Decided Not to Extend USMCA Trade Deal

William Attardi on July 2, 2026

The United States has declined to extend the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during its mandatory six-year review, launching a 10-year countdown that could ultimately bring an end to the agreement unless the three countries agree to significant revisions. The move, announced Wednesday by the Trump administration, does not immediately terminate the agreement. Instead, it activates the treaty’s “sunset clause,” requiring annual reviews until 2036 unless the United States, Mexico, and Canada reach a consensus on extending the pact for another 16 years. The decision injects fresh uncertainty into one of the world’s largest trading blocs, which governs nearly $2 trillion in annual trade among the three nations. The Trump Administration Has Decided Not to Extend USMCA Trade Deal. Now A Countdown Begins to Change It | IBTimes

Trump Announces ‘Massive’ Trade Deal with Japan with 15% Tariffs by Lim Hui Jie

William Attardi on July 23, 2025

President Donald Trump on Tuesday stateside announced that he had made the “largest Deal ever” with Japan, that involves “reciprocal” tariffs of 15% on the country’s exports to the U.S.

  • Trump said that Japan will invest $550 billion into the United States, adding that the U.S. will “receive 90% of the Profits.”
  • He also said Japan will “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”
  • The U.S. president added that the deal would also create “Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.”  Trump announces ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan with 15% tariffs

Google to Fund NECA Training Program

William Attardi on May 2, 2025

Google is announcing a new paper and support for an effort to train 100,000 electrical workers and 30,000 new apprentices in the United States. This is Google’s news release: AI presents the United States with a generational opportunity for extraordinary innovation and growth. The deployment of AI will grow the American economy, create jobs, accelerate scientific advances and more. Fully realizing these opportunities requires an effort to rapidly increase the capacity of the nation’s existing, sometimes antiquated energy system. This in turn requires accelerating innovation and investment in advanced energy technologies; optimizing use of the existing grid and unlocking construction of new transmission infrastructure; and developing the labor force needed to build new energy infrastructure. Through shared public and private efforts to introduce and support training programs like this one, the U.S. can develop a model for training the next generation workforce. Google to Fund NECA Training Program – electrifiED

White House Narrows April 2 Tariffs

William Attardi on March 24, 2025

The White House is narrowing its approach to tariffs set to take effect on April 2, likely omitting a set of industry-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on a targeted set of nations that account for the bulk of foreign trade with the U.S.  President Trump has declared his April 2 deadline to be “Liberation Day” for the U.S., when he will put in place what is called reciprocal tariffs that seek to equalize U.S. tariffs with the duties charged by trading partners, as well as tariffs on sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors he repeatedly said would be enacted on that day. The administration is now focusing on applying tariffs to about 15% of nations with persistent trade imbalances with the U.S.  Despite economic concerns and global pushback, Trump reiterated his goal of using tariffs to restore trade balance and economic strength.  White House Narrows April 2 Tariffs – WSJ

Interesting: The Three Pillars of Independence of an Organization

The 3 Pillars of Independence most commonly refers to a framework from the UK voluntary sector (specifically promoted by organizations like Bond and the Directory of Social Change). It is a toolkit for assessing and maintaining the independence of charities, NGOs, or civil society organizations.

The Three Pillars are:

  1. Independent of Party Politics – The organization (or regulator) must remain free from bias or influence by any political party or the government of the day. Decisions should be impartial, not favoring one political side.
  2. Independent of Populism – It should not be swayed by popular public opinion, media-driven campaigns, or transient public pressure, especially on controversial or unpopular causes.
  3. Independent of the Press – Freedom from media influence or pressure, ensuring decisions are based on evidence and law rather than headlines or public narratives.

This toolkit was created to monitor potential political encroachment on charitable regulation and to ensure charities can operate without undue external interference.

 

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